Transformasi Peran Bakamla Dalam Diplomasi Coast Guard Indonesia: Menelaah Sinergi TNI AL-Bakamla Di Tengah Penataan Kelembagaan Keamanan Laut

Abstract

The synergy between the Indonesian Navy and Bakamla, expressed through white hull diplomacy, is widely regarded as having successfully managed grey zone dynamics in the North Natuna Sea without triggering open escalation with China. This article re-examines that synergy model by introducing a variable that has so far received limited attention, namely institutional fragmentation within Indonesia's maritime security apparatus. Drawing on Syailendra (2026, p. 3), who identifies Bakamla as the structurally weakest actor among Indonesia's maritime security institutions, and on the Maritime Security Bill, which remains stalled in the medium-term legislative program and is fully supported only by the Navy, this article questions whether the apparently smooth operational synergy between the Navy and Bakamla truly reflects solid institutional cohesion. The question is tested through two new case studies, namely Bakamla's transformation from a recipient of Japan Coast Guard capacity-building assistance into an active diplomatic actor, as reflected in memoranda of understanding and joint statements with the Philippine Coast Guard and in exploratory patrol cooperation with the Vietnam Coast Guard between 2023 and 2025. Using qualitative document study and content analysis, this article argues that Bakamla's diplomatic activism at the international level does not automatically resolve fragmentation at the domestic level, and may instead be read as a strategy for building external legitimacy amid an institutional position that remains unsettled at home. The article further finds that the diplomatic stage of this synergy model now moves faster and more independently than the consolidation of surveillance data and law enforcement that should underpin it. This finding corrects the tendency to treat Navy-Bakamla synergy as a given, and underlines the urgency of finalizing the Maritime Security Bill as a precondition for the sustainability of Indonesia's maritime defense diplomacy.